Numb
by Hatakefire
Summary: Tony Stark has always had enemies. But one decides to take it a bit farther. The General captures the Avengers, locking them in cells. He wants information, and he will stop at nothing to get it from Iron Man. Rated T for torture
1. Captured

**Okay I love angst stories and this one has been bugging me for awhile AND WOULDN'T GO AWAY. I hope you guys like it, please review and let me know!  
**_**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**_**: Hank Pym isn't in this story at all, he's on vacation or something or dead I don't care….sorry guys. Hulk is also not here, but he will be later on…like at the end….sorry guys. He is researching with S.H.I.E.L.D. As is Ms. Marvel and Vision. Also, this isn't really set during a certain time, but I guess after season 2….okay that's it**

Tony Stark leaned against his fireplace, rolling his eyes as Wasp flitted about the TV screen, annoying Hawkeye, who was trying to watch some silly cartoon.  
"Perhaps if you asked nicely, Hawkeye," T'Challa suggested in his smooth baritone.  
"Sure. Wasp, will you please MOVE THE HECK OUT OF THE WAY?!" Hawkeyes yelled.  
"Only if you say it nicely," Wasp sing-songed, laughing. Hawkeye threw a pillow in retaliation, accidentally hitting the power button on the TV.  
Groaning, Hawkeye buried his head in the remaining pillow.  
"And I thought you had great aim," Tony sniggered.  
"Oh shut up," Hawkeye mumbled. Tony chuckled; his amber eyes were alight with laughter and mischief. Little did he know that was one of the last times he would laugh with any joy for a very long time.  
It started with the intruder alarm, which was quickly cut off, Jarvis announcing a starved young man was knocking frantically on the door. When Tony answered the door, the man stumbled in, gasping for breath.

"Who are you?" Ton demanded.

"They sent me to get you … I'm sorry," He wheezed. Suddenly he revealed a bunch of gas bombs attached to his waist, which went off as soon as the door closed behind him. The gas filled the room, invading every corner and infecting each person there.  
The senses of the Avengers were dulled, and even though Jarvis ventilated the gas into a smaller section of the mansion, when they were attacked a minute after, it was too late.  
Wasp went down first. When Hawkeye attacked the man who stunned her, he was taken from behind, and knocked out with a well-placed blow to the head.  
Thor let out an angry yell and shot lightning, but was shot with at least thirty needles coming from a large turret-like gun. Each syringe carried the strongest sleeping agents known to man, and after a few more blows, Thor finally succumbed and slump to the floor.  
Captain America was taken with a blow to the head trying to get Wasp and Hawkeye to safety. Black Panther and Iron Man were left, but with their dulled senses it was only a matter of time before T'Challa fell from two stun gun blasts at the same time, and Iron Man, left alone, lasted only ten more seconds before he too was shot down.  
Each Avenger was loaded into a helicopter and flown away. They travelled miles, kept unconscious the entire time. The helicopter was cloaked so no one could trace it, and soon they landed in a forgotten military base. Within this military base there was a man known as The General. He wanted the Avengers for experimentation, a bargaining chip, and most importantly, information. And he was going to get it, one way or another.  
He had thought about taking S.H.I.E.L.D, but decided it was too risky. But the Avengers….they were all smart and powerful. Hawkeye used to be a shield agent, and Tony Stark was an absolute genius. He would know everything about his team, and therefore held invaluable information no one else in the world had.  
Of course, there was the matter of convincing Iron Man to give him said information, but….well let's just say The General was very … persuasive.  
-Page Break-  
Wasp groaned and shook her head slightly, opening her eyes and taking in her new surroundings. It was a dark, barely lit room. But as her eyes adjusted she noticed she was behind a glass panel. Across from her was Hawkeye, and to his left was Captain America. To her left was an empty cell, and to her right was Thor. Beyond the empty cell was the Black Panther.  
"Ah, good, you are awake," Black Panther greeted.  
"Where are we? What happened?" Janet asked, her memory fuzzy.  
"We were attacked and taken down, then brought here. We have been placed in special cells to limit our powers, and Thor is kept unconscious. We could not wake him," T'Challa explained.  
"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Hawkeye asked. Wasp shook her head. He sighed, "Figures."  
"It's not so bad Clint. We may be in cells, but one is empty. That means Iron Man is free and probably searching for us," Steve encouraged.  
"He was still standing when I went down. Perhaps he was able to flee," Black Panther mused.  
"He'll come rescues us. I'm sure of it," Wasp said confidently. And so the Avengers waited, completely unaware of where their leader really was.  
-A few hallways away-  
Tony woke to a slightly more uncomfortable situation. He was strapped to a wall with chains holding his hands above his head and he could barely move his legs. He was parched and he was clad in his white undershirt and the sweatpants he had been wearing right before the attack. The attack. Where were the others? Were they alright?  
Tony craned his neck to see, but even with the harsh, artificial light above his head we could not see his teammates. He was alone. I hope they're okay, He thought, his mind coming up with ideas and discarding them as soon as he thought them through, trying to find out why he was here and where his team was.  
Soon, the opening of the large, metal door in front of him jerked him out of his thoughts.  
"Hello Subject 2," The voice came from a man that looked to be in his late forties. He wore military attire, and he had a gun and a whip attached to his hip. His eyes were an cold, ice blue, and his hair was dark but graying around the edges and covered in military cap.  
"My name is Tony Stark. Now why don't you let me out of here and we can talk this out like civilized men?" Iron Man suggested.  
"You no longer have a name. You will be known as Subject 2. You have no identity here. You are a prisoner, and you will obey my orders," The man stated smoothly.  
"Oh, of course. Silly me. Would you like me to call you master? Your majesty? Oh, Great One? Please, I've dealt with worse than you before," Tony snorted, meeting the man's eyes with his own, not backing down an inch.  
"No you haven't," The whisper sent chills up his spine, but Tony ignored it, refusing to look away.  
"We'll see."  
"Here's the drill. I'm going to ask you a question Subject 2. You will answer me truthfully and in as much detail as possible. If you happen to address me, which I suggest you don't unless asked to speak, you will call me General or sir. If you do not comply you will be punished."  
Iron Man merely rolled his eyes.  
"How do you access your AI, Jarvis?" The General asked.  
"Well the code is, I'm-Not-Telling-You-Let-Me-Go-Now, and OUCH!" Tony broke off midsentence as a bolt of electricity was sent from a small device on the cuffs he was not noticed, burning him and leaving him breathless afterwards.  
"What the hell was that for?!" Tony demanded, shocked from the amount of pain.  
"You did not comply with the rules," The General replied emotionlessly.  
"I already told you I'm not going to say any – ARGH!" Tony yelled, his back arching off the wall as the electricity seared through him, nearly shorting out the Arc Reactor in his chest and causing black spots to appear in his vision.  
"Oh trust me, by the end of today, you'll be telling me everything I want to know," The General chuckled humorlessly, his hand reaching slowly and deliberately to the whip at his side.  
**DUN DUN DUN! Oh no Tony is being tortured! What will happen ne – oh wait I know, you guys don't HAHA! Lol please review and let me know what you think!  
-Hatakefire**


	2. Days Drag On

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
Tony is referred to as Subject 2 and it, but sometimes they slip without realizing it. Sometimes they notice, sometimes not, it just shows that they are still people … monsters, but people.**

**Disclaimer: Forgot this last time, sorry. Basically, I don't own any of characters you recognize, etc. etc. This goes for the entire story blah blah blah, you guys know the drill ;)  
Enjoy the chapter!**  
Minutes, hours, days, years, it could have been only moments. Everything blurred together into a pain-filled haze, with the only thing keeping him sane were the words leaving his mouth.  
"I will not sell out my teammates." Over and over the General's voice would pierce the haze, his own would answer – weak, dry, scratchy from all the screaming. Then more pain. He had nearly detached himself from it all, it meant nothing. Only the words, those seven words that kept him from spiraling into the darkness that always clung to him beyond the red of pain.  
Oh how he wished he could slip into the darkness. It would be so easy to let go. But if he did, he knew that his teammates would be in his position. He couldn't, he wouldn't allow that to happen. And so he stayed in the fire that burned him all the time, when he was awake and when he was sleeping. Nothing mattered but staying alive and those same, seven words over and over and over again.  
Soon he didn't even wait for the question. It was too much effort. Just those same words - forcing them through his heaving lungs, up his raw throat, and out cracked, bleeding lips, again and again.  
The General paused, the knife that he had been using to gouge derogatory terms into Subject 2's arm stilling. Subject 2 was babbling, his words garbled and he wondered if they were even English anymore. Most likely they were the same words he had been saying for the last two weeks, when he had stopped making any sarcastic remarks or protesting.  
"STOP, STOP IT NOW!" The doctor that was there to make sure the General didn't kill Subject 2 rushed in, checking its pulse and listening to the breathing.  
"What is it Jennings?" The General barked, annoyed his information-gathering had been stopped. He had been at it for nearly a month, and all he had gotten was gibberish. Subject 2 was stronger than he had originally thought.  
"Well, um … I think you broke hi – er, it," Jennings fumbled.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, he's completely unresponsive. The only reason he hasn't died is the will to "not sell out his teammates," I believe," Jennings explained, pushing his glasses back up his nose and scribbling something onto his clipboard.  
"That man has valuable information I need. Make him responsive!" The General ordered.  
"There's no way! It's like he's in a coma with his eyes open! Well, maybe there's one way, but…well…" Jennings stuttered.  
"OUT WITH IT!" The General shouted, losing his patience.  
"We could place Ton – um, Iro – er, Subject 2 with, um, the other subjects," Jennings suggested timidly, quailing under The General's rage.  
"You know I can't allow that! Those are its….friends," The General sneered, "They may give him hope. As far as he knows, they could be dead."  
"Then I have no other way," Jennings sighed. The General huffed, pacing slightly. He glared at Subject 2, who had quieted down when no more pain was added, but was still staring blankly into space.  
"….Fine. Take him to the Vaults. Give him some water too, and food. Then put him into the same schedule as the other prisoners," The General finally decided.  
Doctor Jennings nodded, and called in some guards, who put Subject 2 into specialized wrist bands that lowered the energy output of the Arc Reactor in his chest. The light was completely put out, and Subject 2 looked as though he was dead

-Back in the Vaults-  
"How long have we been here?" Janet asked T'Challa, desperate to break the silence.  
"Three weeks, six days," Black Panther responded quietly. He had been making marks on the wall since the first day of their imprisonment, counting the hours to keep his mind occupied.  
"Ugh, why hasn't Tony found us yet?" Wasp demanded.  
"Maybe he isn't looking," Hawkeye muttered.  
"Don't think like that Clint! Tony will be here. When has he let us down before?" Janet urged. There was no response.  
It had been liked this for the last, (according to T'Challa) three weeks and six days. It was the most boring and stressful time in Wasp's life. They were given rations of bread and soup three times a day, along with two bottles of water. They were cuffed when they wanted to relieve themselves and only allowed to go one at a time.  
Captain America encouraged them all to exercise in the cells to stay in shape. They did, but only half-heartedly. Lately it seemed like they wouldn't be getting out soon, wherever they were.  
Janet turned her head when one of the doors opened, pouring light into the room and momentarily blinding them. There was the sound of something dragging on the floor, then a cell being opened. Something, or someone, was tossed inside, and then the cell door closed, and the two guards walked out, shutting the main door behind them.  
The figure, which Janet was almost certain was a man, had been thrown into the empty cell to her left. He was quiet and didn't move from where the guards had placed him.  
"Hello?" Janet asked tentatively. The man did not respond.  
"My name is Janet. What's yours?" Still quiet.  
"What's your name?" Wasp asked, a little harsher.  
"Tony."  
Wasp stared in shock. Tony was here? He had come to rescues them! But then her hopes plummeted when she realized he was captured as well. But why was he talking as if he didn't know her?  
What she didn't know was Tony simply responded to the question. When she had sounded angry, he had answered because he didn't want to get hurt. And he could say his name. His name was okay. Perhaps now, they wouldn't hurt him. He had answered the question.  
"Are you alright?" Her voice was gentle again. Tony did not reply. It did not register that he should answer if she wasn't angry.  
"Iron Man? Is that really you?" Tony flinched slightly at the sound of Captain America's voice. It was deep and male, much like the General's. But again, it didn't sound angry, so he did not respond.  
"Iron Man, it's alright. You're with your friends," Captain America tried again. Still, Tony did not speak.  
"What's wrong with him?" Janet sighed exasperatedly, "Why won't he talk?"  
"I know why." All eyes turned to Hawkeye, who had spoken.  
"Look, there are three options. Option one, he's just messing with us and being a jerk, which I doubt even Tony would do in this situation. Option two, he's mad at us, but that doesn't seem very likely. Option three, the reason he hasn't been with us is because he was being tortured."  
"Tortured? For what?" Wasp asked.  
"Information. Tony Stark is an absolute genius, who probably knows more about this world than anyone else. He has contacts everywhere, and he notices things other people don't. He's the leader of the Avengers, with all the access codes to JARVIS, the most informational AI probably in the entire world. And when he wasn't willing to give up information…well, they resulted to torture," Hawkeye explained grimly.  
"Oh, Tony …" Wasp whispered, wishing she wasn't behind the glass wall so she could reach forward and comfort him. What had he been through?  
The group remained silence once more, reunited once more, but not in the way they thought they would be.

**Kind of a bad ending, but I didn't know what else to do … please review, have an awesome day, and REVIEW! Lol thanks for reading!  
-Hatakefire  
**


	3. Awaken

**Thank you so much for the reviews! Each word makes me so happy, I love you all! Please give me more feedback so I can make this story more enjoyable for you, hope you like this chapter!**

A few days passed and Iron Man did not speak one word. He stayed with his knees up to his chest and his back against the wall, staring into the distance at nothing.  
His teammates tried every once in awhile to get him to speak, but all their attempts failed. The closest thing they got was him flinching and covering his head, and that's when Hawkeye got fed up and yelled at him.  
Soon the Avengers morale was at an all-time low, and it seemed Captain America had had enough.  
"This is ridiculous! We're all just moping around here like a bunch of children who didn't get the toy they wanted!" He exclaimed.  
"What is there to do? S.H.I.E.L.D can't find us or they would have come by now, and Tony's messed up. You expect me to be happy about that?" Hawkeye demanded.  
"Yeah, we're stuck here. That's it," Wasp sighed.  
"I agree," Black Panther said.  
"Well you may have given up, but I haven't. And I'm not letting Tony give up either!" Steve declared.  
"Look, Cap we've tried every – " Hawkeye began, but Captain America cut him off, "You guys go for a bathroom break or something. I need to try, one last time."  
The others looked at each other, shrugged, and then called for a bathroom break.  
Armed guards came in and cuffed them, leading them out with four guards per prisoner, until only Thor, in his deep slumber, Captain America, and Iron Man were left.  
"Tony, look at me," Captain America ordered. Iron Man looked up a bit at Steve's sharp tone of voice, but otherwise stayed still.  
"Tony, this has to stop. I don't know what they did to you, but we still need you. You're Tony Stark, the leader of the Avengers, and we need you more than ever. You hold us together, and without you, we may be even more broken than you are now."  
Iron Man stayed quiet.  
"When the Purple Man attacked, you fought him. Very subtlety, but you fought. You never completely gave in, or I would have lost that fight with you sooner. You never gave up on your team, and you never let them down. Don't give in now," Captain America paused to see if Tony reacted, but his position didn't change.  
"I told you that day that I chose to believe in you. I still do. Tony Stark, I believe in you, and your team needs you. I trust you with my life, as do they. Don't prove us wrong, Tony. Please, come back," Steve pleaded.  
Somewhere, deep in the fog of Tony's mind, his words echoed. _We need you …come back …__**I believe in you**__._ Those words wrapped around him, pulling him out of the darkness, faster and faster as the world spun into view. They need him; they believed in him.  
Darkness clouded his vision, but this time it wasn't holding him back. It was simply there, and slowly, he began to see. He was behind thick glass, and across from him he could see a figure.  
"C-cap? Is that you?" He croaked. His voice was still dry, but not nearly as bad as it had been.  
"Tony! You're back!" Captain America said, shocked.  
"I left?" He asked, confused. He then noticed some stacks of food in his cell, and cups of water. He had probably been asleep when the guards delivered them.  
"You were completely unresponsive. What happened soldier?" Captain America asked. Tony waited awhile before responding, turning his thoughts to food and water to block out the terrible memories. Once he was full, however, he had no choice but to answer.  
"Captain … they did a lot of things. Things I didn't even know were possible, things that I never want to experience again. It was terrible. But I'm alive, and I'm with my team. That's all that matters now," Tony stated grimly, pushing the memories away and focusing on the fact that he was alive and not in that room.  
Captain America stayed silent. Tony couldn't help but trace the wound on his left arm, gouged from the General's knife – FILTH. It would probably scar. He had a tattoo to match it on his right arm though – SUBJECT 2. He was just glad it was too dark for Steve to see the marks.

-PageBreak-

"Tony!" Wasp cried as she was lead into her cell. She pressed against the glass, grinning.  
"Hello Janet," Tony smiled, ignoring the fact his lips bled a bit when he did.  
"It is good to see you awake," Black Panther commented as he settled into his own cell.  
"Yeah, we thought you were gone for sure," Hawkeye agreed, leaning against his own wall.  
"Oh, you know me – too stubborn," Tony chuckled.  
"They didn't hurt you much right Tony? Hawkeye was telling us how they tortured you, but they wouldn't right? I mean, that's just wrong …" Wasp trailed off.  
Tony thought for a split second. Should he tell her? But even in the dim lighting he could see the hope in her eyes, and he couldn't be the one too crush her illusion.  
"Torture me? What have they been feeding you Hawkeye?" Tony forced himself to laugh easily, even though it took all his will not too wince when his laughter jostled his bruised and perhaps broken ribs.  
"Nah, they just asked a few questions. They tried to drug me a few times to get me to talk; they overdosed on one of them that loosened me up. That's why I wasn't responding," Tony lied, "No big deal."  
"Oh, good," Wasp sighed, relieved. She was so relieved, in fact, she didn't notice the looks exchanged between the four men, and the nod from Tony signaling that yes, he had been tortured.  
"Enough depressing stuff. Who's up for a game of I-Spy?" Hawkeye suggested.  
"I-Spy? What do we actually have to Spy?" Tony snorted, doing his best to act normal.  
"Well I don't know, you tell me. That's the game," Hawkeye shot back. Before Tony could rebuke, the main doors opened, revealing three armed guards; two walked in and the other stayed back to guard the door.  
"Subject 2, come quietly and peacefully," One of them ordered. At first, the Avengers were confused – who were they talking to?  
Then Tony sighed and got up, walking to the doors.  
"Wait, they call you Subject 2?! That's – " Wasp began angrily.  
"Quiet Wasp, it's okay," Tony sighed. Wasp huffed and crossed her arms, annoyed.  
The guards put cuffs on Tony, and Tony stayed calm and silent. But then one of the guards spoke.  
"The General has missed you. Says you two have some catching up to do," The guard commented lazily.  
Tony's entire posture changed. Instead of a bit tense but calm, he began thrashing, struggling to escape the hold.  
"No! No, don't take me to him!" He cried, wrestling against his bonds.  
"Hold him down!" Yelled the other guard over Tony's babbling, taking out a needle. The guard outside rushed in to help, and the guard that had spoken used the butt of his rifle, driving Iron Man to the ground and holding him there as the second guard slid the needle into his neck.  
Tony's struggles eventually subsided, and the guards picked him up and carried him away.  
The door shut behind him, leaving a stunned team behind.

"…What the _heck _was _that?_"


	4. Punishment

**Every favorite, follow, and review warms my heart, makes me smile… and jump around my house screaming excitedly like a maniac XD. Please keeping reviewing, it truly does mean a lot!**

_The door shut behind him, leaving a stunned team behind.  
"What the heck was that?"_  
Hawkeye's question went unanswered, as each Avenger worried for their leader. Tony Stark had been scared. That was a rarity in itself. But he had not just been scared, he had been absolutely _terrified_, like the entire world depended on him escaping.  
"Tony was lying, wasn't he? They really did torture him," Wasp whispered. A few moments of silence followed her statement .  
"It would seem so," T'Challa confirmed, and then it was quiet again. There seemed to be a lot of quiet these days; always quiet and worrying.

-PageBreak-

"AHHHHHH!" Tony couldn't help but scream as electricity pounded into his system.  
"TELL ME!" The General roared, upping the voltage.  
"NO! ARGH!" Tony writhed against the metal bonds that kept him in place, his body suffering from second-degree burns. He could feel himself slipping again, barely holding on …  
"That's enough General. He won't survive much more," A small, balding man wearing a lab coat walked in, staring at Tony as though he were a lab rat. Tony was just too tired to care.  
"Subject 2 will tell me information Doctor Jennings, before the night is over," The General snarled.  
"He - , it, will die before then, General. He is very weak. We will need to place him back with hi-, er, it's friends," Jennings explained.  
"Fine. Take out the garbage boys," The General ordered. Three guards marched in, grabbing Tony roughly, ignoring his winces when they rubbed on his burned skin.  
As Tony was half-dragged past the General, he leaned in and whispered, "Until next time, Subject 2." The door closed on his cruel laughter, and Tony was dragged through the halls, the General's words echoing in his ears.  
-PageBreak-  
Wasp stood up as Tony was brought in, practically being carried by two other guards. He was tossed into his cell, landing with a groan. They laughed at him and then left, snickering the entire way.  
"Tony? Are you alright?" Wasp asked, pressing her face into the glass. Tony was lying down, his raspy breath echoing in his small cell.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just … need a breather is all. No harm done," Tony assured her, holding back more groans of pain.  
"Iron Man I do not mean to alarm you, but there is blood coming from your cell into mine," Black Panther stated quietly.  
"Sorry about that T'Challa," Tony grimaced. He took off his shirt, wadded it into a ball, and pressed it against his side where one of his cuts had torn open.  
"I can't believe they are doing this to you!" Wasp said angrily.  
"Yeah, well I can't believe S.H.I.E.L.D or the other Avengers haven't found us yet," Tony responded grimly.  
"Don't give up hope, Tony. They'll find us or we will escape," Captain America urged confidently.  
"I haven't given up hope yet Cap, don't worry. I believe in you guys. I also believe I am really tired, and need to take a nap," Tony attempted to joke, rolling on his side and closing his eyes.  
The Avengers, with nothing else to say, soon fell asleep themselves.

-PageBreak-

It went on like this for the next few days. Guards would come in, take Tony away, the General would torture him, and he would be brought back to rest.  
The Avengers were very worried. Each time Tony came back he looked more haunted, less like a man and more like a body.  
Sometimes the guards would come in just to taunt or laugh at him. A month ago Tony would have laughed back and said some witty comment. Now he just sat there, taking the abuse. It was terrible.  
And Wasp had had enough.  
One day the General himself came in to mock Tony.  
"Look at you, curled up in a ball like an animal. I could end it all, Subject 2. All you have to do is tell me," The General urged.  
Tony said nothing.  
"Fine, have it your way. And just for not responding, that's an extra hour for you," The General snarled. As he was walking away, Wasp shouted after him.  
"You jerk! Leave him alone! He doesn't have to do anything for you!" The General turned, slowly, menacingly, towards Wasp.  
"I will warn you once. Do not speak to me like that," He said.  
"Wasp, listen to him," Tony warned urgently, but Wasp was too angry to hear him.  
"He's a human being, and you can't treat him like that! You're a terrible person!" Wasp yelled.  
"You just defied me. You went against my order, and I even gave you a warning. Do you know what that means?" He asked slowly.  
"No, she doesn't! She didn't mean it!" Tony pleaded, suddenly having the strength to stand up and rush to the front of his cell.  
"I'm fine Tony," Wasp waved it off, glaring at the General, hands on hips.  
"You're going to get punished," He hissed, and despite herself, Janet felt a sliver of fear.  
"Bring it on," She huffed defiantly.  
"No! No, no, no, she's got a headache, she can't think straight! Please spare her, she doesn't know what she's talking about!" Tony begged, causing the others to give him odd looks. Was the General that bad?  
"Quiet Subject 2," The General ordered, reaching for his whip.  
"Yeah, quiet Tony," Wasp said, "You're already hurt. I can handle him."  
"No, don't please! I … I'll take her punishment for her! Just don't hurt her! I'll take her punishment!" Tony tried one last thing. The General paused.  
"You agree to take her punishment for her … twice?" He bargained.  
"Yes, yes! As long as you don't hurt her!" Tony instantly agreed.  
"Tony I can take care of myself!" Wasp snapped.  
"Shut up Janet!" Tony turned and glared at her. "You've done enough!" Wasp was so hurt by his words she remained silent.  
"Kneel, Subject 2," The General commanded. Tony paused for a moment, swallowed his dignity, and went down on his knees, head facing the back of his cell. The General entered and, taking out his whip, position himself behind Tony.  
"She was going to receive twelve lashes. You will receive twenty-five," The General explained calmly. Tony bit back his response and remained quiet.  
"1!" The General suddenly shouted, slamming the whip into Tony's back. Wasp jumped at the _crack! _sound it made, stunned. "2!" And so it continued. After eight Wasp couldn't bear to look, feeling sick. _The General was going to do that to me? Tony knew and DID that for me? Oh god …  
_ Tony felt pain, but what beat that was humiliation. He was being whipped like an abused animal in front of his friends. They looked to him for guidance, to lead them through this. And he was on the ground, unable to stop the General from doing whatever he felt like. It made him hate himself, for not being able to do anything, to stop him. It hurt him, it was degrading and terrible and to his horror he felt tears prick his eyes. Oh great he was crying now? What sort of a man was he?  
Each slap of the whip brought more pain. It bit deep into his skin, making his head swim with the burn and sting of the leathe. At fifteen he stopped thinking. It was like a routine – breathe, pain, cry out, breathe, pain, cry out. It seemed as though it would never end. He felt the weapon gouge wounds into his back, carving and slashing their way into his skin and his soul. He had been on top of the world a month ago. How could this happen? How could he let this happen? To himself, to his team? How? _**Why?**_  
"25!" At last, the beating stopped, and Tony slumped to the ground, almost unconscious and bleeding from new and old wounds.

"Let that be a lesson to the rest of you," The General snarled, before stalking off and leaving the Avengers to themselves.  
"I'm … I'm so sorry Tony … I didn't know, otherwise – " Wasp whispered, but Tony did not respond, just stayed laying on the cold, concrete floor, breathing in shaky, unsteady breaths.  
"It was his choice Wasp," Captain America finally said.  
"Is that supposed to make me feel better!?" She demanded.  
"No, it's supposed to mean don't make Tony do that again. He will sacrifice himself for us. To protect him we need to protect ourselves, and that means listening to this General guy," Hawkeye sighed, obviously unhappy with the situation. But then again, who wasn't?  
"We should all sleep. We will need our strength to help Tony through this," Black Panther suggested. And so, with heavy hearts, the Avengers went to sleep, wondering what the next day would bring.

**So… did you like it? Did it satisfy your need for Tony-whump? XD don't worry, there will be more. Reviews make updates come quicker, I love you guys! :D**

**-Hatakefire**


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